BitLocker Recovery key not found

Anonymous

Hi all,

I have a Dell XPS 13 9360 running Windows 10.1 Home. Here's what happened:

I was using Spotify one day and my computer started hanging. So I restarted the computer via the Start menu.
The computer went into automatic repair and then automatic repair failed. I disabled automatic repair using bcdedit and rebooted.
Then the computer went into Windows recovery. When I was exploring the different options on recovery, I noticed that some of them requested for the Bitlocker recovery key before I could proceed.
This was the first time I knew of BitLocker’s existence, so I definitely did not activate BitLocker manually. I’m not sure how my internal SSD contents got encrypted on their own.
I tried solutions like secure boot in BIOS, resetting BIOS settings to their defaults, all with no luck. At one point I also re-enabled Automatic repair.
Now, when the affected computer is booted up, I am brought to the BitLocker recovery screen.

Based on my reading and conversations with Microsoft Tech Support, when a Windows 10 Home computer is purchased, and the user signs in to a Microsoft account on first startup, BitLocker is setup automatically.

So I went to that same Microsoft account that I used to setup the affected computer.

Sure enough, my device was listed there:

It even told me BitLocker was ON when I clicked “Manage”.

However when I clicked “Manage recovery key” and I got past the 2 factor authentication, I got this…

? It seems that no recovery key is associated with my account. But how is that possible given that this was the correct account that was used to setup the device, the device is listed in the account, and it even tells me BitLocker ON?

Regarding the other possibilities where BitLocker recovery keys may be found:

The hyperlinks https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey, aka.ms/recoverykey also don't work.
This is a home computer, so the recovery key cannot be on Azure Active Directory services.
Since BitLocker was activated by itself, there’s also no way the recovery key could be on a printout.
I’ve already checked all my USB drives and no recovery key was present.

The data in my computer is valuable so I can't afford to format the disk.

Could someone help? Thanks.

Moved from: Outlook.com / Security, privacy, accounts / Other

***Original Title: BitLocker locked my drive by itself after failed automatic repair and recovery key is missing***

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

Hey everyone, this has been a total nightmare, but hopefully this will help.

Le issue: new Lenovo laptop, setup yesterday, today it doesn't like the password. No idea why. Tried password reset, security questions prompted were not the ones used during setup. MS account does not exist. ****. Went through BIOS and tried changing things, no avail. Tried full factory reset and was prompted for BitLocker (aka current-bane-o-my-existence) Recovery Key.

How does one find that?

* Definitely not by calling Lenovo support, they said I bricked the computer and can ship it to them or take it back ot the store I bought it from and ask for a replacement.

* Definitely not by going through the recommended processes on their support page, none of that worked, and it said I bricked my computer and need to send it to them.

* Not by https://account.microsoft.com/devices/

* Not by onedrive.account whatever

* Not by https://account.microsoft.com/devices/recoverykey

50 Chrome tabs later I'm reading this posted help request. Somebody said go to Azure (shrugwhy not). Log into Azure, don't have Azure, but still get in by giving Microsoft ID, pwd etc. At Azure landing page, at the top right I see my ID, so I click on it. It takes me to https://myaccount.microsoft.com/ which is a landing page I've yet to see. On the left hand bar I see devices, third option down. Click on that, AND THERE IS THE EFFING COMPUTER!!!!! I click "View BitLocker keys" and it shows the BitLocker ID of the "bricked" computer, I click "Show Recovery Key" and thar she blows. On the "bricked" laptop I type this in and bingo, we are doing a full reset. I'm doing a full full reset because it's brand new, and I definitely want to make sure that I'm not carrying over a user id and password. Hope this helps.

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76 additional answers

Anonymous

2020-01-10T09:09:20+00:00

Hi Aditya,

It's been a month now, may I know if there has been any news from your side?

More poeple are also experiencing this error where BitLocker recovery keys are not being saved to the account.

Would really appreciate a follow up.

Thanks.
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Anonymous

2020-12-21T21:45:35+00:00

@dankfeller post was what did it for me (thank you!)

So, I have a lenovo yoga and it is 1 yr old. One day I did a windows update and it completely freaked my computer out. It was extremely slow to log in and when it did, it turned to a black screen.

So, I took it in to a computer repair and we both thought no big deal, it's just a dumb update issue. So the guy takes the drive out to back up the data and low and behold there is a damn bitlocker lock on the computer.. Well I didn't know what the heck this was and we tried my two personal accounts connected to the computer to see if there may be a key, but there was NO key. I looked through all my papers to see if I had written the code down. I don't remember anything about bitlocker when I first got my computer. In fact, if this code is a live or die code then it's up to Microsoft to make sure everyone is aware with how important having this code is AND they need to have warnings and red lettering for this BS.. Apparently new computers automatically enable this now.. This is SO DUMB.

After 4 calls to IT experts (All stumped), a completely useless 2 hrs with microsoft help support, a lot of crying in between, looking through all my papers, USB drives, etc, etc.

I found this forum.

Apparently if you or someone you know has EVER logged in with their work or school email on your computer (maybe it needs to be frequently?), your bitlocker key could potentially be there....

I tried my two personal Microsoft accounts and that didn't work.

I used this link from dankfeller to log onto my work and universities: https://myaccount.microsoft.com/

So, I tried my works account and that didn't work

I tried my universities account... we have a WINNER! apparently my university decided to put the key on my computer WITHOUT my knowledge and that account is not my primary account on my computer. So check ALL the accounts you have EVER signed in with. Microsoft has separate log ins for person and work/school accounts. because when I first attempted my school accounts it said I didn't have an account under that email because I used the wrong log in for personal emails.. Good luck and I hope everyone is able to find their key!
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Anonymous

2020-05-27T20:01:35+00:00

Hi all,

Thought I'd let you know that aka.ms/recoverykey worked for me after a few days, even though it was not showing up under 'Manage Recovery Key' under Devices. I'm not sure if it was by freak accident that it showed up, but it did enable me to get back access to my computer, thankfully.

It's disappointing that Dell and Microsoft have not bothered to solve this problem many months after it was first raised. I had the same issue as you, with both companies redirecting me to the other. Messing with the BIOS settings did not work, and it seems that the BitLocker key would still encrypt the hard drive even if it were moved to another PC (meaning our user data would be lost forever).
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Anonymous

2020-01-04T01:11:31+00:00

Hi clarethebear, could I check if you managed to resolve this issue while keeping your data? I just had the same issue with my XPS 9570, which only occurred after a change of motherboard during repairs. I too am using Windows Home, and am also suffering from an encrypted hard drive without ever being given a key.

Thanks!
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